Turning Japanese: Easy-to-do Japanese Dishes

Sunday’s Lunch is almost always special because the whole family makes it a point to stay at home and spend time together. During special days such as these, my mom takes it as an opportunity to innovate and come up with new dishes. These are some inexpensive but delicious dishes which you can try at home.

Kani Cucumber Salad

Kani Cucumber Salad

If you love kani, then this is for you. We keep a lot of kani in our fridge because kani is a default ingredient in our salads. Not to mention, if we’re not feeling lazy, then we make our own California Maki at home. This dish is very easy to prepare. Just grate cucumbers, and add sliced kani. Top it off with Japanese Mayonnaise. You can even add mangoes if you like, to make this salad sweeter.

My mom’s first attempt at Shrimp Tempura

Shrimp Tempura

This was my mom’s first attempt at making Shrimp Tempura, so be forgiving with how the shrimp looks like. It’s actually very delicious, despite the shrimp being all curled up. Important things to remember with the Tempura is to peel of the shell of the shrimp before smothering with breading, then fry the shrimp. For the sauce, we still haven’t learned the ropes in making the sauce, so we used a thick, sweet and spicy sauce we use for fried dishes (such as the popular street foods fish balls and squid balls, homemade). I wouldn’t recommend using soy sauce for this one, not even the Kikkoman sauce, because it’s too salty.

Refrigerated Fruit Cocktail Cake

Refrigerated Fruit Cocktail Cake

Now this is a dish which you won’t commonly find in Japan, mainly because fruits in Japan are imported from tropical countries such as the Philippines, and are not sold cheap. Would you believe that one piece of mango cost 125 Pesos (250 Japanese Yen) in Japan? Crazy expensive, when we’re already complaining that mangoes in our country, priced at 80 Pesos per kilo (3 mangoes) are getting expensive. Despite this dish not being Japanese in nature, this is definitely a dessert that the Japanese would love.

The Refrigerated Fruit Cocktail Cake consists of layers of crushed Graham, a combination of Nestle cream and evaporated milk, then another layer of crushed Graham, then another thick coating of Nestle Cream and evaporated milk. Hello, diabetes. Top it off with fruit cocktail (without the sauce, of course), and a layer of gelatin. Cool for thirty minutes before refrigerating. Enjoy!-HANA